ATO Build

[BlennyTime]

I used this for years on my 75 and it worked great, thought I would pass along. Total cost was under $40, took 5 minutes to put together with no electrical and minimal plumbing.

Materials:

-Float switch with bracket: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y42PPWN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&th=1
-Tom‘s Aqua lifter: https://www.chewy.com/tom-pet-produ...X3IyD60eqf67OyeGpjj3EqZ3x6wc9lGBoCuyUQAvD_BwE
-Home Depot 5 gallon bucket
-1/4” air line tubing and vinyl tubing

Build-

Fill bucket with RODI water. Drop airline tubing (which sinks and coils) into bucket, and connect end to input of aqua lifter. Using vinyl tubing, connect output of aqua lifter to float switch. Install switch in sump, and set to desired level.

One bucket usually lasted me a few days. You can chain buckets together too for more capacity, or use a bigger bucket.

 

[ActiveAngel]

Nice! I’ve done similar DIY ATOs for my systems for ~10 years of use, and no failures yet... aside from water running empty and/or my forgetfulness.

•Float switch (I like your link better than the ones I used!)
•Transparent Plastic Tote/bucket, with lid
•Airline Tubing
•1/4” hose adapter (either female-female, or a bulkhead)
•Painters Tape
•Sharpie
•Blue paint
•some form of sealant (hot glue, silicone, super glue)

Basically, I just gravity feed the water to my tanks. Otherwise it’s a similar setup. I use the painters tape to cover up a vertical strip, and paint the external sides of the Tote to reduce light getting inside. This minimizes the growth of algae inside the container, but also allows me to see how much water is left, and if I need to refill, without opening it.

In the photo/version below, I decided to go heavy-duty on this container. But I used cheap containers in the past just as well.

 

[ActiveAngel]

I’ve also done it without any holes, sealant, etc... instead, I fed the airline tubing through the top of the container, and rubberband the ends to a small rock to keep them submerged.

 

[BlennyTime]

Nice! Yeah, we were pretty tight for space on that tank and needed something that would sit on the ground. Gravity fed would remove a source of failure for sure, if you have the space. Looks good!